Amos Tutuola (1920–1997)

Similar to The Palm Wine Drunkard by the same author in form and yet still totally unique in content. A constant stream of strange out of the blue things happening and yet it doesn't feel "random" - there's a rhythm and progression and connections everywhere. It feels almost like a travelogue of sorts of the world of the supernatural. The first half it feels absolutely wondrous and amazing, completely fresh and captivating, but by the end I was glad it wasn't too long - it's a beautiful trip but the succession of fantastical events gets a bit overwhelming eventually. Still something I'd absolutely recommend to anyone as something completely unlike most "classic" literature yet with an incredible command of language that I feel would reward rereadings and deep study.… (mais)

This is such a *fun* book, and totally unlike anything else I've ever read. The folk tale origins are pretty recognisable but even then it's told in a style that's very unlike how you'd expect folk tales to be told, at least in English. The style is very matter of fact about absolutely everything. It's funny reading 2 paragraph about how he and his wife organised a ferry service using magic with exact details of the money they made and how they needed it for buying food (when of course there's no mention of them needing food on their wide ranging travels otherwise)... and then 2 pages later they just lose it all having used it for nothing. The disconnect between the matter of fact fantasy and the out of place real life details, particularly those connected to British colonial administration, makes the latter seem absurd and unreal in a way the strange supernatural isn't. It's incredibly hard to convey what's so magical about the experience of reading it because so much of it is bound up in the way it uses the language and how masterful the author's command of it is even though it's deceptively simple. The "plot" is absurd, everything that happens is absurd, and it's beautiful. Special shout out to the image of meeting hundreds of dead babies on the road who beat you with sticks.… (mais)